Re: [Xen-users] support for PVH

[Mike Wright <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 08/19/2016 12:57 AM, Jo Mills wrote:
> <snip>
> > I have a chance to buy a dual Xeon e5-2670 (SR0KX) 128G-ECC on an
> > Intel MoBo for $500.  This is an awesome amount of horsepower for an
> > incredible price.
> >
> > Before I commit to anything I need to know with absolute certainty
> > that these CPUs support Xen's PVH virtualization mode.
> </snip>
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> I haven't checked the CPUs but please don't make the mistake I made and
> use a motherboard that only has very limited support for VTd.
>
> As far as I could work out (from lots of help on the forum) my
> problems were all down to the North Bridge chip set used by Intel on my
> motherboard and it only supporting one VTd instance - something like
> that.  Anyway, the motherboard was about as much use as a poke in the
> eye for HVM use, even though VTd support was stated in the documentation.
Thanks Jo.  After a server case, power supply, video, and audio I'm 
looking at a grand. Way too much just to test the BIOS.
But, your response led me to some useful info.

I have had an AMD Phenom II with IOMMU and NPT (s.b. PVH capable) for 
years now, but the MoBo is not -- apparently the chipset lacks support. 
OK, look at MoBos.  Find ones with IOMMU native chipset support only to 
learn that they are all targeted at gamers, not power users, and lack 
BIOS support.  Even those who claim BIOS support seem to lack proper 
support for an ACPI IVRS table. Gets worse.  Depending on boards, IOMMU 
disabled kills USB2 and enabled kills networking.  Setting IOMMU=soft on 
the kernel line helps sometimes, etc, yadda, yadda.
Looks like a different tack will be required here.

Thanx for your support!


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